Biogeography Notes
Biogeography: Study of Environmental Factors
Definition: Biogeography studies how environmental factors impact the locations, distributions, and life processes of plants and animals.
Studies the biosphere: the area enveloping the Earth's surface, consisting of all living organisms on land, in aquatic, and terrestrial areas.
Concerned with: Human and natural impacts on organisms and ecosystems and how these influences affect environmental conditions.
Biosphere: sustains all life through complex interactions across the lithosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere.
Provides: Food and air.
Ecosystems
Definition: A community of organisms occupying a given area, interacting with each other and the abiotic environment.
Can be terrestrial or aquatic.
Four major components:
Abiotic: Physical environment/habitat for plants and animals.
Producers/Autotrophs: Produce their own food from abiotic factors (self-nourished).
Consumers/Heterotrophs: Consume plants or animals (other-nourished).
Herbivores: Eat only plants and fungi.
Carnivores: Eat other animals.
Omnivores: Feed on animals, plants, fungi, etc.
Decomposers: Promote decay/soil formation, returning nutrients to the soil and water in forms plants can use.
Abiotic Factors/Climate
Humidity:
Amount of water vapor in the atmosphere.
Relative humidity: Percentage of moisture the air can hold before saturation.
High temperature: Increases air's capacity to hold water.
Low temperature: Decreases air's capacity to hold water.
Regulates: Water evaporation rate via transpiration and perspiration.
Wind:
Involved: Directly in transpiration.
Amplifies: Temperature effects.
Results: Rapid moisture loss.
Mechanical pressure/damage: Affects plant morphology.
May lower: Ambient temperature (wind chill).
Determines: Weather conditions.
Assists: Dispersal of seeds, spores, etc.
Rocks:
Earth’s crust/Lithosphere.
Parent rock: Aggregate of minerals.
Soil:
Part of Earth's crust: Where vegetation roots.
Components: Mineral, organic matter, water, atmosphere, biological system.
Formation: Due to weathering and soil development/pedogenesis.
Pedogenesis: Creation of soil layers through physical, chemical, biological, and human influences.
Periodic disturbances:
Events: Fire, hurricanes, typhoons, and volcanic eruptions which can alter biological communities.
Periodically occurring disturbances: Adapted to by life (e.g., fires).
Trophic Structure
Definition: Ecosystem's living components organized by their eating habits.
Food chain: Sequence of feeding levels, identifies organisms by trophic level.
1st trophic level: Producers (mainly plants) – fundamental suppliers of basic food.
2nd trophic level: Primary consumers – herbivores.
3rd trophic level: Secondary consumers – carnivores.
4th trophic level: Tertiary consumers – carnivores that eat primary and secondary consumers.
Food chains: Can be less or more complex.
Food web: Overlapping and interacting food chains, forming a feeding network.
Nutrient cycles: Nutrients routed through ecosystems.
Cycle of Nutrients and Energy Flow
Biomass: Total amount of living material in an ecosystem.
Ecosystems Studied: Through tracing flows of energy.
Thermodynamics first law: Energy cannot be created or destroyed.
Applied to ecosystems: Energy from Sunlight converted via photosynthesis.
Thermodynamics second law: Energy transformation results in energy loss (dissipation) as heat.
Energy flow in ecosystems:
Flows: Through food chains and webs from one trophic level to the next.
Released: Continually as heat and through decomposition of organic materials (oxidation and decay).
Productivity
Definition: The rate at which new organic material is created at a trophic level.
Primary productivity:
The rate: of new organic matter formed by producers through photosynthesis.
Efficiency Factors: Temperature, nutrient availability, carbon dioxide content, age, and species of individual plants.
Secondary productivity:
The rate: of new organic material formed by consumers.
Result: Conversion of plant materials to animal substances.
Ecological Niche
Definition: An organism's specific role in the system and its locational setting (habitat).
Ecological niche (defined): Combination of role and habitat for a species; how species responds to abiotic and biotic controls/limits.
Generalists: Species that survive on many kinds of food and in various environments.
Case Study: Hippos in Colombia
1981: Pablo Escobar introduced hippos from Africa to Colombia.
Impact: Hippos spread and naturalized.
Ecological Niche: Ecologists believe hippos may have found a niche similar to that of extinct semiaquatic hoofed mammals from South America (c. 100,000 years ago).
Review Questions
Provide a definition for an ecosystem.
Describe how energy flows in the different trophic systems.
Provide a definition for an ecological niche.
Explain the difference between gross primary production and net primary production.
Describe heterotrophs and give an example of a decomposer.
Provide and explain a trophic structure.
Plant Communities
Definition: Aggregations of vegetation species adapted to the environmental conditions in an area.
Terrestrial ecosystems: Plant communities typically reflect climatic conditions (zonal vegetation).
Climate influence: Illustrates how Earth subsystems are interconnected.
Natural vegetation: Develops naturally without human interference.
Compatibility: Plant communities have different requirements related to sunlight, moisture, and nutrients.
Competition: Can lead to the elimination of one species.
Community Composition: Species are those that can adapt to prevailing environmental conditions.
Community Development
Species interactions:
Competition:
Shapes: Species population by shifting diet, dispersing (plants), territoriality, and resource partitioning.
Predation:
Definition: One organism feeds on another living organism.
Controls: Species population, keeping ecological balance.
Adaptations: To avoid/limit predation.
Mutualism:
Definition: Both species benefit (e.g., lichens: fungi + algae).
Commensalism:
Definition: One species benefits, the other is neither harmed nor benefits (e.g., moss on a tree).
Parasitism:
Definition: One species benefits at the detriment of the host (host not killed) (e.g., lice, ticks, and fleas).
Amensalism:
Definition: One species is destroyed, the other one is unaffected (e.g., Penicillin killing bacteria).
Species Interaction - Interaction Compass
Interaction compass:
Illustrates: Two-species interaction with terms defining outcomes.
Signs indicate: Individual fitness or population growth rate.
(+): Positive effect on individual or population.
(0): No effect.
(–): Negative effect.
Species/Population Dynamics
Interactions: Can happen within and across species.
Variety and number of species: Results in different communities.
Example: Deserts and savannahs share drought-resistant species, but the savannah has greater diversity.
Critical Factors Controlling Species
Tolerance limits:
Factors: Moisture, temperature, salinity, pH.
Optimum range: Where most of species suited for the environment live.
Extremes: Where some individuals can survive.
Species fitness: To environmental conditions determines ecological niche.
Plant Succession
Definition: Sequence of plant communities over time when natural vegetation becomes established.
Major Succession Types: Primary and secondary.
Primary Succession:
Begins: On a barren site without soil or seedbed.
Pioneer Community: Invades barren surface (volcanic lava, beach, or area previously covered by glaciers).
Pioneer Plants: Establishment alters environmental conditions.
Process: Continues with each succeeding community offering further environmental changes.
Duration: Long term (few 100 or 1000 years).
Secondary Succession:
Begins: When a disturbance (wildfire, tornado) destroys existing vegetation (gap creation).
Process: Germination, re-vegetation from dormant seeds.
Duration: Quicker than primary succession.
Communities
Disturbance:
Effects: Can set back competitors (reset).
Examples: Mudslides, fires, storms, meteor strikes.
Disturbance-adapted species: Cope with disturbance (flame resistance, underground biomass, quick reseed times).
Climax Communities & Landscape Ecology
Plant succession (early 20th century): Originally considered an orderly process ending with a stable vegetation cover (Climax Community).
Climax Communities (original view): Self-perpetuating, existing in equilibrium.
Succession (modern view): A useful model, but early ideas have been modified.
Emphasis: No longer on a predictable sequence of successional steps.
Scientist belief: Multiple climax communities can develop in each area, influenced by climate, drainage, nutrients, soil, and topography.
Landscape Ecology: Integrated concept viewing plant communities and ecosystems together.
Landscape Components
Landscape: Interactive expression of all environmental factors functioning together.
Vegetative Mosaic: Area’s landscape viewed as interlocking parts.
Matrix: Dominant area in the mosaic.
Ecotone: Zone of transition between two plant or animal communities.
Patches: Gaps in the matrix caused by different soils or by human or natural processes; nonlinear area (polygon) which is less abundant.
Corridors: Continuous linear features (rivers, roads, power lines) that cut across the landscape; serve as conduits and filters for movement.
Ecological landscapes: Change dynamically due to human and natural influences.
Biogeographers Study: How vegetation communities evolve over time.
Paleoecology
Definition: Reconstructing past climates using evidence like tree rings, fossil pollen, leaves, or diatoms.
Importance: Helps predict future environmental changes.
Landscape Terminology
Matrix: Land cover that is dominant and interconnected over the majority of the land surface.
Mosaic: Collection of patches, none of which are dominant enough to be interconnected throughout the landscape.
Why Care About Communities?
Communities are dynamic: Can change dramatically over short time periods
Change in Environment: Change the services they provide.
Loss of wetlands: Loss of water resource
Loss of natural predators: Increased pests
Loss of complexity: Decreased resilience
Changes Impact: Impact how different resources and products move between the spheres.
Review Questions
Why do species occur where they do?
Name THREE types of species interactions.
Why should we care about communities?
List and describe environmental controls that influence species.
Describe plant succession, give ONE example.
Describe primary succession.
Describe secondary succession.
Environmental Controls
Range of tolerance:
Definition: Where a species can survive.
Ecological optimum: Where species thrive.
Ecotone:
Definition: Zone of overlap.
Example: Riverbanks.
Biomes:
Definition: Major types of terrestrial ecosystems with specific temperature, precipitation, soil, plant, and animal types.
Natural Factors: Climatic
Sunlight for photosynthesis:
Quality of light, intensity and duration.
Availability of water & nutrients
Temperature variations
Animal sensitivity to climate:
Cold blooded vs warm blooded.
Bergmann’s Rule: body size.
Allen’s Rule: size of exposed portions.
Wind strength/direction
Bergmann’s Rule
Warm-blooded species: body size increases with decrease temperatures.
In cold climates: animals will be larger with more mass to provide the body heat needed for survival and to protect the main trunk of the body where vital organs are located.
Allen’s Rule
Warm-blooded species: the relative size of exposed portions of an animal’s body decreases with decreasing mean annual temperatures.
In cold climates: small appendages are advantageous because they reduce the amount of exposed area subject to temperature loss, frostbite, and cellular disruption.
Impact of Wind on Vegetation
Significant in: Deserts, polar regions, coastal zones, and highlands.
Wind effects: Injure vegetation and increase evapotranspiration.
Adaptations to wind stress: Plants twist and grow close to the ground.
Krummholz: Trees with a twisted form (German for crooked wood).
Human Impacts on Ecosystems
Activities:
Agriculture (fire, eutrophication through fertilizers).
Animal grazing (pastoralism).
Deforestation (timber production).
Road building.
Mining (mine dumps).
Urbanization.
Dam building.
Overgrazing (soil compaction and trampling).
Impacts:
Alteration of ecosystems (famine and desertification).
Wetland destruction (decline in water quality and reliability, habitat loss).
Invasive Alien Species
Definition: Exotic species that outcompete native species and reproduce in great numbers.
Example: Burmese python.
Brought: From South-East Asia to US for pet trade.
Problem: Exploding population in Florida Everglades: o Disrupt ecology, prey on native wildlife; Can also eat alligators that are up to 1.5-1.8 meters long.
Deliberate introductions:
Reasons: Food, gardens, sport, revenue & control of pests.
Example: Widespread distribution of brown trout (Salmo trutta).
Accidental introductions:
Boats: dump ballast containing potentially invasive alien species.
Example: The spread of the goby fish (Neoglobius melanostomus) into the Great Lakes region of North America from the Black Sea
Himalayan Tahr (Hemitragus jemlahicus):
Large ungulate (“hoofed animal”) native to Northern India, Southern Tibet, China and Nepal
Spreading at Table Mountain: similar habitat, diet adaptable
Camels in Australia
Between 1840 and 1907, between 10,000 and 20,000 camels were imported from India into Australia.
Australia may now have the largest wild population of Arabian camels (Camelus dromedarius) in the world.
Camels are highly mobile and may forage over 70 km per day. They can live up to 50 years and have few predators.
As large herbivores, camels add to the total grazing impact on environment.
Cats introduced to Marion Island/South Africa
Subantarctic island belonging to South Africa
First cats introduced in 1949
1977: 3400 cats
Exterminated in 1990
Threats of Invasive Species
Replacement of diverse systems: With single species, leading to biodiversity loss (e.g., Australian acacias in fynbos areas of South Africa).
Habitat change/alteration
Alteration of soil chemistry
Alteration of geomorphological processes: Sedimentation rates, sand dune movement and saltmarshes are altered
Plant extinction: By competition for light and nutrients
Alteration of fire regimes
Alteration of hydrological conditions: Reduction in groundwater levels
Anthropogenic Landscapes
Definition: Landscapes modified for economic purposes.
Few natural areas survive
Methods like Remote Sensing (RS) Usage: preserve those natural areas and help to create, e.g., corridors linking those areas?
Why do corridors enhance the sustainability of the natural areas? –
Remote Sensing (RS) Applications
Italy: Example of connectivity network based on a predictability map of a Mediterranean area.
Arrows search to connect the most predictable areas indicating which areas could be transformed in more predictable by a proper change of their management or type of land cover to foster the overall network.
Water resources management: Integrating RS technologies with the models has been a helpful strategy for obtaining continuous input data.
The satellite remote sensing for hydrological applications includes, but is not limited to actual evapotranspiration groundwater level monitoring etc.
Water quality: Track parameters such as temperature, chlorophyll content, and suspended sediments (turbidity) using RS methods.
Natural disasters: Use RS in prevention, preparation, relief, reconstruction, early warning, and monitoring.
Forest management: Generate information for forest management plans and decision-making.
Remote sensing definition: The process of detecting and monitoring the physical characteristics of an area by measuring its reflected and emitted radiation at a distance (typically from satellite or aircraft).
Human impacts on floodplain wetlands-KZN:
A remote sensing-based approach to investigate changes in land use and land cover in the lower uMfolozi floodplain system, South Africa
The major long-term changes that were observed include a substantial decrease in wetland.
The most striking observations include an abrupt emergence of subsistence farms in 2012 and a corresponding decrease in wetland areas
Review Questions
Interaction of natural factors
Understand Bergmann
s versus Allens RuleWhich exotic plant invaders do you know in South African landscapes?
Why are islands so vulnerable to introduced animals?
Which human impacts are most dangerous in South Africa?
Biomes: Largest Geographic Biotic Unit
Biome Definition (expanded): Major community of plants and animals with similar life forms and environmental conditions. Includes various plant communities and is named for the dominant type of vegetation.
Biome Type: Several similar biomes (e.g., deciduous forest biome type includes deciduous forests of Asia, Europe, and North America).
Mediterranean Types: Shrublands/forests around the Mediterranean Sea, in California, Chile, W-Australia, and the Fynbos Biome at the Cape.
Classification of Terrestrial Ecosystems
Climate impact on biomes: climate has always been the dominant environmental predictor set to explain spatial patterns of species and diversity.
Role of soil and land cover: Soil plays an important ecophysiological role for plants through the provisioning of nutrients and water, and its small- scale influence on plant distribution
Land cover is also considered relevant in models aiming at predicting species distributions, as it adds realistic small- scale information on habitat fragmentation and human influence
Forest Biomes
Characteristics: Large, woody, perennial tree species, often much taller than humans.
Location: Where moisture availability exceeds potential evapotranspiration (>750mm/year in South Africa).
Tropical Forests
Location: Equatorial regions.
Limit to Growth: Competition for light.
Climate: High temperatures promote constant growth, sufficient water.
Structure: Multiple levels of leaf canopies; little sunlight reaches the forest floor.
Deforestation Rate: Alarming (e.g., Indonesia, Congo).
Galleria Forest: Closed growth over a water course.
Soil: Recycling of nutrients/water <> Poor soils
Monsoon Rainforest:
Climate: Alternates between low-sun dry monsoon and high-sun wet monsoon (> moist air inland from tropical coasts).
Thornbush & Scrub Forests:
Location: Subtropical margins of forests where soils are poor in nutrients.
Vegetation: Lower growing, denser at ground level, thorny (defense against animals, drought resistance by dropping leaves), grass beneath trees/shrubs.
Tree Spacing: Trees widely spaced away from the equatorial zone, with dominant grassy areas.
Midlatitude Forests
Characteristics: Withstands long periods of water deprivation
Climate: Moderate temperatures & precipitation variations.
Types:
Broadleaf deciduous forest o Warm/tropical air in summer & cold/continental/polar in winter.
Broadleaf evergreen forest o S Hemisphere locations.
Mixed forest
Coniferous forest o Boreal forest, Taiga
Coniferous Forest (Boreal Forest, Taiga):
Situation: High latitudes.
Adaptation: Coniferous species' hard, narrow needles transpire less moisture compared to broad leaves.
Growing Conditions: Tolerate lack of moisture due to high soil permeability or acidic soil; can grow in sandy places.
Winter Conditions: Well adapted to areas with long, severe winters.
Mediterranean Sclerophyllous Woodland
Location: Surrounds Mediterranean Sea, SW coasts of continents (30-40⁰N and S).
Climate: Moderate annual temperature variations, uncommon freezing temperatures, little rainfall during warmest months.
Vegetation: Drought-resistant shrubs/small trees with small, hard-surfaced leaves and roots.
Leaf Function: Capable of photosynthesis with minimal moisture transpiration.
General: vegetation is thick shrub plant community.
Grassland Biomes
Location: Where trees and shrubs cannot grow (fire, grazing).
Tend to: Be found in continental interiors where most rainfall occurs in summer.
Often: Fertile agricultural land with good soils.
Tropical Savanna Grasslands
Characteristics: Scattering of trees (no closed canopy), low-growing tree species with wide crowns, drought/fire-resistant during dry season, tall grasses, red-colored soils.
Water Table: Fluctuates dramatically.
Animal Life: Large herds of grazing animals and predators migrate seasonally.
Midlatitude Grasslands
Location: Occupy zone of transition between middle-latitude deserts & forests.
Characteristics: Vary in height because of precipitation.
Tall-grass prairie (USA, Canada):
Destruction Level: Has been almost destroyed Grassland to cropland (Grassland Biome in SA is threatened due to similar reasons)
Short-grass prairie
Location: West of 100th meridian, Black Sea to northern China
Climate: Lower annual precipitation and Subsoil permanently dry
Desert Environments
Climate: Evapotranspiration greatly exceeds available moisture throughout the year.
Xerophytes:
Definition: Plants with mechanisms to combat moisture losses.
Adaptations: Tiny leaves with wax coatings, needle-like leaves, and trunks/limbs that photosynthesize.
Tolerance: Can tolerate saline water and soils, with ability to store water.
Animals:
Lifestyle: Primarily nocturnal.
Cooling system: Cooling blood circulation Absence of vegetation in the Atacama Desert (Chile) & Namib Desert (Namibia
Arctic & Alpine Tundra
Location: High elevations or poleward in latitude.
Tundra: Mixture of grasses, flowering herbs, sedges, mosses, and low-growing shrubs.
Bush tundra
Grass tundra
Desert tundra
The Theory of Island Biogeography
Biodiversity: Relatively high species diversity on islands Dwarfism or gigantism on islands
Processes: Colonization and extinction of species on islands.
Factors affecting diversity: Island size and distance from the mainland are well tested impacts with macro-fauna and flora.
Madagascar: A Case Study
Human Arrival: Recent (10,000 to 2000 years ago).
Extinctions: Caused multiple extinctions (hippopotamus, elephant birds, giant tortoises, and giant lemurs).
Introduced species: dogs, zebu, rats, African bushpigs, goats, sheep, rice).
Review Questions
What did you learn today?
Which biomes do you remember globally and in SA?
What makes Madagascar so special?
Biome: Largest Geographic Biotic Unit (Review)
Major community of plants and animals with similar life forms and environmental conditions.
It includes various communities and is named for the dominant type of vegetation, such as grassland or coniferous forest.
Several similar biomes constitute a biome type - for example, the temperate deciduous forest biome type includes the deciduous forest biomes of Asia, Europe, and North America
Biome = major regional community of plants and animals with similar life forms and environmental conditions.
Ecologically integrated and uniform.
It is the largest biogeographical unit
Named after the dominant form of life i.e., tropical rain forest or coral
Dominant life forms often conspicuous plants
Biome represents the soil, the vegetation, the animals and their physical, abiotic environment too.
Classification of Terrestrial Ecosystems
Ecoregions: Are categorized within 14 biomes and eight biogeographic realms to facilitate representation analyses.
South African Biomes
Biodiversity and Endemism
Endemism: A species whose geographical range is limited
Biodiversity Hotspots: Regions characterized both by exceptional levels of plant endemism and serious levels of habitat loss
Hotspot Features:
Unique geographic location at the convergence of two major ocean currents and diverse climates, fostering varied habitats from forests to deserts.
Complex geological history resulting in a multitude of ecosystems and a high number of endemic species
Desert Biome (South Africa)
Location: Hyper-arid area, part of Namib Desert, along Orange River.
Land features: Situated on coastal plain in the south – gravel plains with granite, schist and limestone inselbergs
Contributing Factors: Aridity – High pressure cells, Cool Benguela current > Dry, Moisture for fog.
Dominant flora: Dwarf succulent shrubs and small trees in the south
Forest Biome (South Africa)
Size: Smallest South African biome (afrotemperate, subtropical and azonal – frost-free areas), Indigenous forest covers about 0.5% of total SA’s land surface
Characteristics: Distinctive and multi-layered evergreen or semi-deciduous trees
Distribution: Fragmented distribution
Fynbos Biome (South Africa)
Part of: The Cape Floral Kingdom
Plant Species Diversity: Home to 9 000 plant species (40% of southern Africa's flora), More than 50% species are of the endemic to South Africa, More than species are 20% of plant threatened by extinction
Climate: Winter wet climate, dry summers Similar to Chile, California, Mediterranean, SW Australia But unique vegetation with extremely high diversity But growth forms (shrubby vegetation) like other Mediterranean regions
Grassland Biome (South Africa)
Size 2nd largest biome in SA
Location Central plateau
Climate Summer rainfall region; frost in winter
Characteristics: Trees are scarce, One of the most threatened in SA, Burns regularly
Economic Use: Breadbasket - Meaning? Why is this biome so threatened? How is the region used?
Savanna Biome (South Africa)
Location Covers 46% of the country’s land area, Largest biome in SA
Characteristics A combination of grasses and trees, Summer rainfall is essential, Highly productive; more than 5700 plant species
Coverage Stretches to eastern and western Africa
Threat Land use, human impact?
Succulent Karoo Biome (South Africa)
Global Significance: One of only two arid hotspots in the world
Key Feature: Contains richest variety of succulents on Earth, More than 5000 plant species; 2000 are endemic to SA>Biodiversity Hotspot
Namaqualand biogeography (South Africa)
Flora Rich flora, More than 2750 vascular plant species
Succulents Harbours about 10% of the world’s approximately 10000 .succulent species
Threat Plant poaching as threat Overgrazing: goats, sheep
Nama Karoo Biome (South Africa)
Climate Hot summers, cool winters with frost, arid
Features Low shrubs, grasses with some small trees, Comparably low biodiversity
Threat Threats: e.g. mining, overgrazing
Albany Subtropical Thicket (South Africa)
Features Dense, woody thicket vegetation, semi- succulent and thorny, Many subtropical elements
Distribution Highly fragmented and found mostly in river valleys
Significance Has high carbon dioxide storage ability
Rainfall Mostly all year-round rainfall
Indian Ocean Coastal Belt(South Africa)
Coverage Covers about 800km of the coastal eastern strip (East London to Mozambique)
Features Mosaic of subtropical forest, intrazonal grasslands, various azonal forest types including mangroves, swamp and lowland riverine forest
Climate Hot, tropical and humid summer with mild winters
Marine Ecosystems/South Africa West Coast-Benguela Current
Characteristics: -Cool water, upwelling > Many nutrients, High diversity, with Kelp forests and large sea mammals and sharks
Review Questions
Why is the Grassland biome so threatened?
Why are there trees in the Savanna but only rarely in the Grassland biome?
Why are there no mangroves along the Western coast of South Africa?
How can those unique landscapes have been used for tourism?
What is the smallest, what is the largest biome in southern Africa?
Desert Biome (South Africa):
Location: Hyper-arid area, part of Namib Desert, along Orange River.
Land features: Situated on coastal plain in the south – gravel plains with granite, schist and limestone inselbergs
Contributing Factors: Aridity – High pressure cells, Cool Benguela current > Dry, Moisture for fog.
Dominant flora: Dwarf succulent shrubs and small trees in the south
Forest Biome (South Africa)
Size: Smallest South African biome (afrotemperate, subtropical and azonal – frost-free areas), Indigenous forest covers about 0.5% of total SA’s land surface
Characteristics: Distinctive and multi-layered evergreen or semi-deciduous trees
Distribution: Fragmented distribution
Fynbos Biome (South Africa)
Part of: The Cape Floral Kingdom
Plant Species Diversity: Home to 9 000 plant species (40% of southern Africa's flora), More than 50% species are of the endemic to South Africa, More than species are 20% of plant threatened by extinction
Climate: Winter wet climate, dry summers Similar to Chile, California, Mediterranean, SW Australia But unique vegetation with extremely high diversity But growth forms (shrubby vegetation) like other Mediterranean regions
Grassland Biome (South Africa)
Size 2nd largest biome in SA
Location Central plateau
Climate Summer rainfall region; frost in winter
Characteristics: Trees are scarce, One of the most threatened in SA, Burns regularly
Economic Use: Breadbasket - Meaning? Why is this biome so threatened? How is the region used?
Savanna Biome (South Africa)
Location Covers 46% of the country’s land area, Largest biome in SA
Characteristics A combination of grasses and trees, Summer rainfall is essential, Highly productive; more than 5700 plant species
Coverage Stretches to eastern and western Africa
Threat Land use, human impact?
Succulent Karoo Biome (South Africa)
Global Significance: One of only two arid hotspots in the world
Key Feature: Contains richest variety of succulents on Earth, More than 5000 plant species; 2000 are endemic to SA>Biodiversity Hotspot
Namaqualand biogeography (South Africa)
Flora Rich flora, More than 2750 vascular plant species
Succulents Harbours about 10% of the world’s approximately 10000 .succulent species
Threat Plant poaching as threat Overgrazing: goats, sheep
Nama Karoo Biome (South Africa)
Climate Hot summers, cool winters with frost, arid
Features Low shrubs, grasses with some small trees, Comparably low biodiversity
Threat Threats: e.g. mining, overgrazing
Albany Subtropical Thicket (South Africa)
Features Dense, woody thicket vegetation, semi- succulent and thorny, Many subtropical elements
Distribution Highly fragmented and found mostly in river valleys
Significance Has high carbon dioxide storage ability
Rainfall Mostly all year-round rainfall
Indian Ocean Coastal Belt(South Africa)
Coverage Covers about 800km of the coastal eastern strip (East London to Mozambique)
Features Mosaic of subtropical forest, intrazonal grasslands, various azonal forest types including mangroves, swamp and lowland riverine forest
Climate Hot, tropical and humid summer with mild winters
Marine Ecosystems/South Africa West Coast-Benguela Current
Characteristics: -Cool water, upwelling > Many nutrients, High diversity, with Kelp forests and large sea mammals and sharks
Desert Biome (South Africa):
Location: Hyper-arid area, part of Namib Desert, along Orange River.
Land features: Situated on coastal plain in the south – gravel plains with granite, schist and limestone inselbergs
Contributing Factors: Aridity – High pressure cells, Cool Benguela current > Dry, Moisture for fog.
Dominant flora: Dwarf succulent shrubs and small trees in the south
Forest Biome (South Africa)
Size: Smallest South African biome (afrotemperate, subtropical and azonal – frost-free areas), Indigenous forest covers about 0.5% of total SA’s land surface
Characteristics: Distinctive and multi-layered evergreen or semi-deciduous trees
Distribution: Fragmented distribution
Fynbos Biome (South Africa)
Part of: The Cape Floral Kingdom
Plant Species Diversity: Home to 9 000 plant species (40% of southern Africa's flora), More than 50% species are of the endemic to South Africa, More than species are 20% of plant threatened by extinction
Climate: Winter wet climate, dry summers Similar to Chile, California, Mediterranean, SW Australia But unique vegetation with extremely high diversity But growth forms (shrubby vegetation) like other Mediterranean regions
Grassland Biome (South Africa)
Size 2nd largest biome in SA
Location Central plateau
Climate Summer rainfall region; frost in winter
Characteristics: Trees are scarce, One of the most threatened in SA, Burns regularly
Economic Use: Breadbasket - Meaning? Why is this biome so threatened? How is the region used?
Savanna Biome (South Africa)
Location Covers 46% of the country’s land area, Largest biome in SA
Characteristics A combination of grasses and trees, Summer rainfall is essential, Highly productive; more than 5700 plant species
Coverage Stretches to eastern and western Africa
Threat Land use, human impact?
Succulent Karoo Biome (South Africa)
Global Significance: One of only two arid hotspots in the world
Key Feature: Contains richest variety of succulents on Earth, More than 5000 plant species; 2000 are endemic to SA>Biodiversity Hotspot
Namaqualand biogeography (South Africa)
Flora Rich flora, More than 2750 vascular plant species
Succulents Harbours about 10% of the world’s approximately 10000 .succulent species
Threat Plant poaching as threat Overgrazing: goats, sheep
Nama Karoo Biome (South Africa)
Climate Hot summers, cool winters with frost, arid
Features Low shrubs, grasses with some small trees, Comparably low biodiversity
Threat Threats: e.g. mining, overgrazing
Albany Subtropical Thicket (South Africa)
Features Dense, woody thicket vegetation, semi- succulent and thorny, Many subtropical elements
Distribution Highly fragmented and found mostly in river valleys
Significance Has high carbon dioxide storage ability
Rainfall Mostly all year-round rainfall
Indian Ocean Coastal Belt(South Africa)
Coverage Covers about 800km of the coastal eastern strip (East London to Mozambique)
Features Mosaic of subtropical forest, intrazonal grasslands, various azonal forest types including mangroves, swamp and lowland riverine forest
Climate Hot, tropical and humid summer with mild winters
Marine Ecosystems/South Africa West Coast-Benguela Current
Characteristics: -Cool water, upwelling > Many nutrients, High diversity, with Kelp forests and large sea mammals and sharks